Ha'Derek Yeshua - the Way Of Jesus

Today I visited the synagogue of Ha’Derek Yeshua ( in English The Way Of Jesus) It is a local synagogue of Jews who follow the Commands of Moses but believe that Jesus was the Messiah promised of God. I learned a lot from this experience. The service started by reading out of the prayer book; Prayers , Blessings, and Psalms are read both in Hebrew and in English. The men all wore the Talithand the women also wore a head covering during the service. When I asked the Rabista ( the Rabi’s wife) after the service what the significance of the Talith was , I was told that mainly it is simply Tradition to wear them that they do not require it and I also found out the meaning behind the verses in 1 Corinthians 11 where Paul addresses the women’s need for a head covering versus the man not being required to wear one, she explained that Paul is actually referring to closing the Talith in front of their face when praying publicly, and that women were required to cover their faces because their faces were seen as distracting and that now it is not a requirement , because the cultural view of a woman’s face has changed. And that only the men are required to wear it signifying their position as head of the household.
They are a progressive synagogue and allow women to participate in the reading of the scripture and families sit together. After several blessings were recited, the Torah scroll was retrieved from the Ark and carried through the congregation, pausing long enough so each person can reach out and reverently touch the scroll and reverently lift their fingers to their lips, again when I inquired after the service, I was told that this signified their love of the Torah (the Law of the Lord)and for their Messiah Yeshua, who is the Torah made flesh. A blessing is recited and the Torah laid open on the table, then the Torah potion is read, another blessing is recited , before the Haftarah (the Prophets) is read another blessing is recited and then the Prophets portions is read, this portion was read today by the Rabista, and then another closing blessing is said and here is where the first difference is seen between a traditional Jewish service another blessing is said and the Gospel portion is read, followed by the closing blessing, then the Torah is returned to the Ark. The Rabbi leads the congregation in a few more prayers then he plays some Praise music and everyone sits in a few moments of silent contemplation either softly singing the tunes of praise or simply praying to themselves. At the end of this time of quiet reflection The Rabbi returns to the Bemma (pulpit) and expounds a bit on the reading of the day, He talks of the Creation and how the Hebrew words are so significant and filled with meaning he talks of how the word “The day” is used and how it signifies that the meaning is that the world was created in 6 literal days. Beyond that he talked of the reference of az that is often found notated in the place of “the“ in front of a word, which is, he explains, what Jesus was referring to when He said “I am the Alpha and Omege (Greek for A and Z )” so every time that notation is seen it is a reference to the Messiah Jesus.
At the end of the short message, the Rabbi pronounced the ending blessing over us , explaining before he did that this was where Spock’s greeting came from. Lifting both hands he placed his thumbs together and then separated the other four fingers in the middle, this he said represents the ark of the covenant, the fingers representing the wings and the bridge of the thumbs, the mercy seat. The congregation raises their left hand, for that is the hand through which a blessing can be received. And the Rabbi blesses the congregation says “May the Lord bless you and keep you, The lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious to thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. “
There were many more things I learned in the service this afternoon , but I cannot go into them now perhaps later when I have had time to process them and understand better what they mean .
I am definitely looking forward to the next time I can join this small community of believers and learn more about the Hebrew Bible and how it shows the truth about the Messiah.
Until that time,
Shabbat Shalome
Lydia

Of Religion and Spirituallity

Since I started going to college last year I have had my eyes opened to a lot of things, one in particular is the way most people view Christianity, or religion in general.

Yesterday was one of those days, I was sitting around with some friends, most of whom are in my world religions class and one who is a Religious Studies major at MSU, and the topic turned to the personal religious beliefs of those present, most of what I heard was not surprising, but there was one thing that stuck out to me and that was that these women were all tired of organized religion and were searching for something deeper more personal. I was at a loss for what to say, on so many levels I agreed with them, our churches have lost sight of what it means to have a personal relationship with Christ and have focused so heavily on rituals/tradition and appearance that these women equated church and the Bible with a bunch of rules that you have to follow. They didn't realize that the Bible is not about works, but Grace. Its about the fact that we can never know what is good enough, and even if we could know how good is enough, we can never be good enough. That's why Jesus had to come and die; because he was the only one who could be good enough. I am ashamed to say that I did not have the presence of mind to present this to them. I continued listening, unsure of how to voice my own thoughts and beliefs.
If I could do it over, I would say that I agree with them that many of our churches have the wrong focus, that they are focused too much on whether someone has a Tattoo, a nose piercing or wears pants and not focused on the real issue loving one another. I also agree that most religions have similarities, I was amazed myself to find many similarities between Christianity and Hinduism, they were small but they were there. However, I do not believe that all religions are equal, I believe that there is one that is the truth and all others are forgeries. I believe that there is a God who though loving is also just, and righteous. That he gave us his truth first in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Jewish people,and later through the writings of the New Testament. I believe also that there is a Devil, who was once a holy angel was not satisfied with his place and sought to over throw God and become God himself. And since he could not do that he twists what God has said and turns them into half-truths to confuse and mislead people. I believe that there is a literal Heaven and a literal Hell and that those that do not except Jesus as the Son of God will one day die and spend eternity in Hell.
What I don't know is how to convince my friends of this truth, how I can show them that this is real? To be honest Christianity is all I've ever known, and while I am sure in my own heart that it is not "just the way I was raised" I don't know how to show that to others. I pray that I can show them Jesus Love working through my life and making me a better person than I was yesterday and I pray that God will be able to use even my failures to bring them to Himself.

Is your email being monitered?

I received an email this evening from a news site stating that the White House admitted on it's own website to monitoring the web and emails for negative comments regarding Obamacare, as the president's health care plan has become "affectionately" known.This intrigued me and I went in search of the original statement on The White House Web site. Now first of all I have to question the intelligence of a government who's search engine can not differentiate between care and car, as all the results I got when searching Obamacare and Obama health care were related to cars. Eventually, my husband, the master searcher, found the link. The only thing the site said was this.
"There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov." (emphasis mine)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/

Now I am very concerned on all sorts of levels about this, "since we cant keep track of all of them" to me means "we are tracking as much as we can" so there is a good possibility that the things you and I write to each other are being monitored. The other thing that concerns me is that we are being encouraged to be "good citizens" and rat out our fellow citizens who are causing distention, by sending it to the government so they can better monitor these things. Sounds an awful lot like Natzi Germany if you ask me! What will be next... will we be asked to monitor those who are "politically incorrect"

As to ObamaCare ....well lets just say we've seen how well the government has handled our retirement (Social Security) and our current health programs (Medicare and Medicaid) why would we want to let them handle the rest of it? And I don't like the idea that my tax dollars would potentially be used to fund abortion and/or euthanasia. Also if it's not good enough for Congress then it is not good enough for the American people.

I have seen the effects a socialist state has on a country and I do not want that for my country... but I feel powerless to stop the winds of change...I wonder if this is how many German Christians felt as they watched Hitler destroy their nation from the inside out.

Reflections on my Journal!

As this semester is coming to a close and we turn in our journals I am reflecting on the things I have learned through this experience. I enjoyed the Journaling, but honestly felt that I had too many other things going on to get the full benefit from it. I felt my entries were rushed and not a good portrayal of my ability. I find myself wondering if I would have gotten more benefits from writing a couple more papers then writing the Journal.

Was I too busy, probably. Could I have done a better job, definitely. Did I learn anything, I’m not sure. I learned that I do not like having to write in a journal every day … of course, knowing that others would see this Journal made it harder to write, since some days it was hard not to invade my own privacy and I had a hard time thinking of things to write about beside what was weighing on my mind. I learned something’s about writing and I think it helped me write a little easier. Will I continue keeping a blog, assuredly. Though I probably will not write in it everyday, especially, when I’m in school, I will from time to time post about my life as a student, mother, and wife. Some entry's will be thought provoking about something I’ve learned, perhaps, or a new thought that crossed my mind. Other entry’s might be entertaining, tidbits of my children’s shenanigans, or just what we did that day or week.

I think, no let me correct that, I know that how often I post, will depend greatly on how much homework I have assigned.

Narnia

One of the greatest pieces of literature of our time is the Chronicles of Narnia. Written by C.S Lewis during WWII, part fantasy, part parable, it tells the story of a mythical land called Narnia, a land full of mythical creatures such as fawns, giants, nymphs, and where animals can talk. The story begins when four children, who have been sent to the country to avoid the bombing of London, are playing Hide-and –Seek and stumble into it through the back of an old wardrobe. The children must defeat a wicked witch who rules the land and has made it “forever winter, yet never Christmas”. As with all good stories there must be a hero, and in this one it is Aslan, a lion, who is the great King and Creator of Narnia. It is he who saves the life of Edmond the youngest boy in the group who was beguiled by the witch and condemned to die as a traitor. Aslan takes his place and dies a cruel death, but that is not the end because though the Deep Magic demanded payment in blood it also stated that “if an innocent person willingly took the place of guilty then the Stone table would break and death it’s self would be turned back” Aslan is resurrected and leads the children on to victory.

The symbolism in this book is amazing, I love how it shows that there is a price to be paid for all wrong doing and that we can’t pay the price our selves, but there is one, who though he was innocent ,He willingly took our punishment. His name is Jesus, and just like in the story, when He died that day on Calvary and took the punishment for our sins, the stone table (the Law, or Ten Commandments) was broken and death was turned back when He arose from the grave 3 days after his crucifixion.

Rant

As a mother with two small children, I was ecstatic when I found out that the new Wal-Mart close to us had a Family restroom. It is really convenient when my daughter has to go to the bathroom, we can go in shut the door take care of business and I don’t have to worry about my son crawling under the stalls and running a way. However, this last week when we went to the store, my husband was with me, my daughter had to go to the bathroom. We headed to the family bathroom, since Bubby was due for a diaper change, too. I parked my shopping cart close to the door and while I proceeded to unbuckle my son from the cart the door opened and two adults, without children, emerged from the restroom. It was obvious that they had not been using the facilities. I didn’t say anything then, and I really wish I had.

I was angry, the family restroom is there to make things easier for parents with little children, so we don’t have to chase them down in the larger restrooms and risk them running off or getting lost. It is NOT a place for people to have sex, if you want to have sex do it at home. Don’t use a public place and get in the way of others being able to use the facilities for their intended purposes!

Reflections on "Los Pobroes"

The writer in this story dealt with a lot of descriptions, both physical and emotional trying to make his reader understand, the depth of his desire to prove somethings to himself and also to his a dad and perhaps to those that he was trying to relate to. Having always lived in privilege he had no understanding of what it meant to work for a day. So he think that taking a summer job would be a great experience for him but along the way he discovers that no amount of work could ever let him feel what they felt because his mindset was different.

I like the idea that if you think a certain way then it changes your actions and before you know it can change your whole life's course, but on the other hand if we get discouraged and depressed about something it can cause us to remain where we are and not try to better ourselves. Attitude changes everything, when you think that you will succeed, you usually do!